Austin adams



2 Sheets-Sheet@ A. ADAMS. LATCH.

.(No Model.)

(No Model.) V 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

\ "'AADAMS.

LATCH.

No. 595,426. Patented Dec.. 14, 1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUSTIN ADAMS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 595,426, dated December 14, 1897.

Application filed April 10, 1897. Serial No. 631,575. (No model.)

.To OILZZl whom #may con/cern:

Beit known that I, AUSTIN ADAMS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful'Fastening Device, of which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to fasteningdevices for ice-box doors and other movable devices where it is .desired to close the'door without having the same engage the latch and thereby fasten or secure the door in position. It is desirable in many instances to permit the door to be tightly closed Without wedging the same into its seat, and at the same time permit the same to be freely opened without having to operate the latch or fastening devices. In the usual latches employed for wedging the door into its seat the door cannot be tightly closed without the latch engaging a corresponding partl and thereby preventing the door from being opened from the inside without operating the latch. This for various reasons is objectionable, and it is desirable to provide a latching or securing means which will not only permit the door to be freely opened from either side without moving the latch, but at the same time can be used when desired to tightly wedge the door into its seat and also serve to open the same.

With this end in view I have sought to produce a latching device that will not only securely wedge the door into its seat when desired, but also serve to release it from its seat and open the same, such latching device being so constructed that it will in its normal or inoperative position permit the door to be tightly closed without the corresponding member of the latching device on the door coming in contact with the latch, thereby securing the door in its closed position.

With this object in ,view I will proceed to describe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figures 1 and 2 represent perspective views of my latch. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of another latch constructed according to my invention, the keeper being secured to the door. Fig. 4 is a cross-section of my latch. Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 are views in detail of my rotatory keeper, and Fig. 9 is a detail in front elevation of the same.

Referring particularly to the drawings, A

denotes my rotatory keeper, and C a iixed member, as a tongue or pin, supported by a vertical plate or bracket c and ordinarily provided in cases where the same is secured to a door with a handle B. My rotatory keeper A consists of a hub provided with a spirallyinclined iedge or way extending around the periphery of the same and also provided with two operating-handles A' and A4, the handle A being located on the exterior and A4 on the interior of the door, wall, or the like to which my device may be applied. I form in my keeper an entrance opening or way a, plane with the longitudinal axis of the same and substantially at right angles to the plane or face of the support thereof and extending far enough through the same to allow the overhanging tongue or pin C' to have free ingress and egress therethrough and to pass freely into and out of the said keeper without f in any Way rotating or otherwise actuating the same. My keeper is also provided, as stated, with an inclined edge or way a2,whereby when the door or the like is closed it may be forced or crowded into its seat by turning either of the handles A or A4, the said handles being ordinarily located at the opposite ends of the horizontal shank or rod A3. Another rearwardly-disposed inclined edge or way a3 serves upon subsequent manipulation of either of the said handles to crowd the said door or the like from'its seat and to force the same open. I designate the rear edge d? a posterior incline and the front edge a2 of the seat formed by the said two inclines an anterior incline. It ismanifest that various omissions of some particulars could be made without materially affecting the essential features of my invention or the' operation of the remaining parts, and I do not therefore wish to be limited to the specific structural details of the organization herein set forth. Obviously the elements of the structure described may be located at an angle to the plane in which they are shown. I accordingly use the words horizontal, vertical, and the like in a relative sense.

My keeper :may be applied to the jamb, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or to a door, as shown in Fig. 3, at will. The said keeper may also be cast or otherwise formed in a solid piece with a peripheral inclined edge or way or in tubular form, as shown in Fig. 8.

Obviously my invention is applic ble to a IOO great variety of doors or other swinging or movable devices-as, for example, bulkhead and compartment doors, dead-lights, manholes, hatches, or the likeand I do not therefore limit myself to its use in connection with ice-house doors herein particularly specified.

As it is evident that many changes in the construction and relative arrangement of parts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, I would have it understood that I do not restrict myself to the particular construction and arrangement of parts shown and described, but that such changes and equivalents may be substituted therefor, and that What I claim as my invention is- The combination, in a fastening device,

with a fixed projection, of a rotatory latching device, and a handle for actuating the same, said latchin g device consisting of a hub provided with a spirally-inclined edge or way extending around the periphery of the same, whereby the projection may have free ingress and egress to said spiral Way when the latch is in its normal inoperative position, without impingng the latchway, as specified.

In testimony of the foregoing specification I do herebysign the same, in the city of NVashington, District of Columbia, this 9th day of April, A. D. 1897.

AUSTIN ADAMS. Vitnesses:

J. ODELL FOWLER, J r., WM. II. DE LACY. 

